When juvenile offenders are sent to Linnea Anderson’s formidable wooden desk for a talking to, she has a set procedure. As they sit across from her she opens her creaking drawer and reaches in. She pulls out Mr. Sketch scented markers and sets them on the table. Debating for a moment, she chooses one, maybe strawberry scented red, or lemon scented yellow. Then she draws a spiral.
“Unfolding ever outward, growing always, returning to the same place at a slightly different level,” is the saying that Anderson paraphrases to explain her approach to change and growth with youth.
Linnea Anderson, a juvenile probation counselor with San Juan County spoke at a Soroptomist International meeting Nov. 11 to illuminate her work with juvenile court services.
“The concept is its a non judgemental approach to change,” Anderson said of the spiral. “Things are always going to be different, and starting from a place of acknowledging things will be different.”
Anderson took a winding path to end up as a juvenile probation counselor in San Juan County, starting at art school. From there she considered being a history teacher, which changed when she got involved with a college class that visited Maple Lane School in Washington a prison for boys ages 15-21. After graduating, she took a position working with juveniles in the prison system.
In 2008, with the economic downturn, her position was discontinued, and Anderson began working as a juvenile probation counselor and relocated to Friday Harbor. A major difference about her job now compared to when she first started working with youth is their place in the justice system. While she used to work with juveniles who had been convicted, she now works with youth to foster empathy and kindness to avert a path to jail or prison.
“In order to engage kids when they’re facing hard or uncomfortable things, if we start from a place and of positivity and hope, it’s a lot easier to get them to walk and with us,” Anderson said. Juvenile court services is planning to have a Court Appointed Special Advocates training in 2016. For info, call 360-378-4620.
– By Anna V. Smith, Journal reporter
